Whether you’re travelling by air, road or even by boat, you don’t want to miss out on the beautiful scenery of New Zealand because you’re stuck in traffic or you’ve missed a connection. So how can you make your trip as seamless as possible and avoid travel delay?

Plan ahead

This is pretty self-explanatory, but bear with me. Your trip could easily be ruined simply because you haven’t planned ahead. Even thinking through your plans the night before you travel could save you serious time and hassle later. If you’re heading to the airport to fly domestically or internationally, make sure you factor in travel time, potential traffic and other factors that could impact your ability to make it to your flight on time. Similarly, if you’re due on a cruise ship or even a regular-sized boat, don’t cut it too fine. Make sure you’ve planned your commute so that it’s as seamless as possible and you don’t risk missing out.

Consider traffic

If you’re planning on driving or taking a bus or taxi anywhere, it’s really important to think about potential traffic. Traffic can slow your trip by hours, so it’s definitely worth avoiding it where possible. Think about what time you’re planning on making the drive. If you’re going to be driving either mid-morning or afternoon, you may want to alter your plans. Leaving early in the morning or later in the evening will give you a much better chance of a seamless trip.

Check your flight time as early as possible

Christchurch Airport posts regular flight status updates so that you can check your scheduled flight. As early as you can, jump online to see whether it's been delayed or even cancelled. If it has been, know what you’re covered for and make the most out of your travel insurance.

Know your rights

Typically, if a flight is suddenly cancelled or delayed by a significant period of time, it’s the airline’s responsibility to provide compensation. In this case, make sure you contact the airline as soon as possible and ask for a replacement flight or even accommodation if you need to stay overnight. However, in the case of a shorter delay, your airline has no obligation to provide you with reimbursement, as their promise is to get you from point A to B within certain (loose) time limits. This is where travel insurance comes in. If a flight is delayed by over six hours, and it’s caused you to miss out on accommodation, activities or anything else, your travel insurance policy should cover you.

Know your airline

Government bodies often release reports on domestic airlines and airports and their performance. You can head online and check out the frequency of delays and cancellations for a particular airline or airport if you’re interested. That way you can avoid the smaller airports and budget airlines that are more likely to push a flight back.

With these tips, you can avoid travel delays and have a seamless trip, making your time travelling around New Zealand stress-free and lots of fun. Enjoy!